The Museum of Contemporary Art

​Installation view of Laughing on the Outside: Selections from the Permanent Collection, August 16, 2017–January 22, 2018 at MOCA Grand Avenue, courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photo by Brian Forrest

​Laughing on the Outside: Selections from the Permanent Collection

​Laughing on the Outside: Selections from the Permanent Collection presents artworks from MOCA’s collection that register the ludicrous, the impossible, and the playful. On view are stairs that lead to nowhere, invitations to exhibitions that contain no objects, and boots that appear to walk by themselves. The centerpiece is Gabriel Orozco’s interactive sculpture Ping Pond Table (Mesa de ping-pong con estanque) (1998). Museumgoers are invited to play with the paddles and balls provided, though it is likely they will need to invent new rules for a new game. While the artists belong to different periods and nations, they all orient art toward play, often via absurdity and ridiculousness, and in ways that deflate the grandiosity that sometimes accompanies the word “art.”

Curator: Anna Katz

Exhibitions at MOCA are supported by the MOCA Fund for Exhibitions with lead annual support provided by Delta Air Lines, Shari and Ed Glazer, and Sydney Holland, founder of the Sydney D. Holland Foundation. Generous funding is also provided by Allison and Larry Berg, and Jerri and Dr. Steven Nagelberg.

In-kind support is provided by FLIR Systems.

Exhibition

Exhibition

On view Aug 16 – Jan 22

​Laughing on the Outside: Selections from the Permanent Collection

​Laughing on the Outside: Selections from the Permanent Collection presents artworks from MOCA’s collection that register the ludicrous, the impossible, and the playful. On view are stairs that lead to nowhere, invitations to exhibitions that contain no objects, and boots that appear to walk by themselves. The centerpiece is Gabriel Orozco’s interactive sculpture Ping Pond Table (Mesa de ping-pong con estanque) (1998). Museumgoers are invited to play with the paddles and balls provided, though i…